A 23-year-old man was discovered disoriented in a forested area five days after he attended a New Year’s Eve church service in Bertioga, a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Eduardo Mauricio da Silva went missing on December 31 after asking a colleague to drop him off on the side of a highway, claiming he was going to a friend’s house.
His last known contact with his family was a text message to his father at around 2 am on January 1, requesting a car through an app. However, his father only saw the message later that morning, realizing Eduardo was not at home. Eduardo’s father reported him missing at 5 pm that day. Surveillance footage later showed him in a wooded area in the Caiubura neighborhood, where he was eventually found after a man alerted his family.
Eduardo was found by his family and friends on January 5 in a remote forest, weak, malnourished, and disoriented. The circumstances surrounding his disappearance remain unclear, but his aunt mentioned that he seems emotionally disturbed. The Fire Department was notified but found out he had already been located before their arrival. Eduardo is currently receiving medical attention in a hospital in Baixada Santista.
Coincidentally, another man named Roberto Farias Tomaz also went missing on New Year’s Day while hiking Pico Paraná, the highest point in southern Brazil. After an extensive search, Roberto was found on Monday in the Cacatu area of Antonina, having walked 20km through challenging terrain. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation, having survived on limited provisions without a phone.
